


Bonfire Tales - Helsaween 2020

by Helsanon



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Beer, Bonfires, Camping, Disney, Disney Movies, F/M, Halloween, Helsaween (Disney), Helsaween 2020 (Disney), Marshmallows, Movie: Frozen (2013), Sausages, Spooky, Trip - Freeform, stories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 09:00:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27348553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Helsanon/pseuds/Helsanon
Summary: Four friends - Hans, Kristoff, Elsa and Anna - went to a camping site to spend their Halloween. Each one will tell a spookier tale than the previous one. Which one will scare them the most?Written for the Helsaween 2020 event.[Helsa, Kristanna]
Relationships: Anna & Kristoff (Disney), Anna/Kristoff (Disney), Elsa & Hans (Disney), Elsa/Hans (Disney)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12
Collections: ❄❄❄





	Bonfire Tales - Helsaween 2020

**Helsaween Free Days/Repost – Bonfire Tales**

– Modern AU –

The car made a right turn, entering the Redwood Camping Site. The ginger driver had a laid-back pose, with his right hand on the wheel and his left arm leaning on the door. At his side, a sleepy blond passenger was folding a map back to the car’s glove box. Behind them, a pair of girls – one platinum blonde with a long braid, the other strawberry blonde with two smaller braids. They were both excited by their new adventure. They all were from the same university, although from different courses and met at one of the many parties there.

“Looks like we’re here…” Said the front passenger, trying to hide a yawn.

“C’mon, Kristoff! We have to prepare our tents and light up a bonfire. You can’t sleep now!” The strawberry blonde, sitting behind him, shook his seat to wake him up.

“Anna’s right. We’ll need to collect wood. Lucky us there’s been little rain these last days.” The driver said a comment towards the man at his side.

“Hans, how many stars this place had in _Campvago_?” The platinum blonde asked the man driving the car.

“Four and a half, Elsa! And for the price, there’s none better.”

“Oh! That’s nice. I’ve always liked the idea of camping… I’m glad we’re doing this!” Elsa said, looking at Anna with a smile.

“Yeah! You’re too much of a bookworm, sis. Some fresh air will do you good!” Anna nudged her older sister, who lightly laughed.

The dirt road took them to a parking lot, where only two other vehicles were parked. Hans stopped the car at a vacant spot and turned off the car.

“Let’s unpack, guys!”

“Woo-hoo! We’re here!” Anna enthusiastically threw her door open and left the car. Elsa did the same on her side, albeit more carefully, and Hans followed suit. Kristoff was the last one to do it, performing slow movements.

“Kris!”

“I’m so sorry, Anna. I… _yawn_ … had so much to do today. Gonna need an energy drink!”

Hans opened the trunk and searched for such a beverage inside a thermal box, throwing it to Kristoff a bit later. The blond man thanked him and drank it up in fast gulps, the drink changing his behavior in seconds.

“Aah, now that hit the spot! Let’s do it!”

The girls were already taking away her tents and some camping material to the front of the pay booth. Hans and Kristoff handled the heavier stuff and went to meet the other two. There, they noticed Elsa was carrying a snowman plushie.

“Aren’t you old enough for that, Elsa?” Hans asked. The girl threw an annoyed look at him.

“This is Olaf. I gave it to Anna when she was little, but she gave it back when I was going under a… _complicated_ time in my life.” Elsa looked away, feeling a bit sad.

“Oh, hey. Sorry! Didn’t know that.” Hans raised his hands, apologizing. Anna crossed her arms and stared at him.

“Perfect way to ruin it before it even started, mister!”

“Guys, it was a misunderstanding! We all agreed to come here, right?” Kristoff tried to ease the situation.

They all decided to drop the issue and moved to the pay booth. Each one contributed their share and signed some papers.

“Have a pleasant stay!” The cashier told them.

The night was dark, with the moon barely leaving its new phase and a few stars dotting the firmament. There were sparse trees all around, thickening the farther they were from the parking lot. The gang saw some lights from their left, where the other visitors might have done their camping. Many trails were leaving the pay booth; they opted to take the least used one to the right, believing that would give them more privacy. Kristoff, now energized by the drink, took the lead and turned a flashlight on. Hans, Anna, and Elsa formed the line behind him.

After some walking, they reached a clearing with some old rocks at its center – clearly marking old bonfires. The surroundings were filled with pine trees and they could hear some owls hooting and crickets chirping.

“Ooh, this is the right kind of creepy!” Anna commented. She and Kristoff ran to the little rock pile and started to set up the tents around it, while Hans left to the edge of the clearing and began collecting some dry branches. Elsa dropped the camping gear she was carrying near the tents and asked her sister if she wanted help.

“Nah, we’re almost done anyway. But there’s something you could do…” Anna’s grin and her vicious look told Elsa there would be mischief soon. “Why don’t you give Hans a scare? Tee-hee!”

“I don’t know, sis. He drove us here and all that…” Elsa was in a shy stance, looking at Hans. Anna rolled her eyes.

“It’s just a little prank! Kristoff, don’t you like my pranks?”

“Eeh…” He shrugged. Anna didn’t like that answer, but pretended to not care; she looked at her older sister with puppy eyes – a move Elsa never managed to resist.

“Okay, Anna. But it’ll be just one!”

“Yesss!”

Elsa moved stealthily towards Hans, who were still picking up the branches. There was a sizable pile on his arms, as he didn’t want to come back later for more. He was squatting to reach one more branch when he heard a ‘BOO!’ behind him. The darkness of that particular night and the eerie forest were playing with his senses and the shout scared him a lot more than it should – making him audibly yell an ‘AAAH!’ and to throw all the branches upwards. They fell on him one by one, each one making a ‘bonk’ noise.

The platinum blonde initially laughed at his reaction – with Anna and Kristoff joining the chorus – but the branch incident quickly made her regret the prank and she hugged him from behind.

“I’m so sorry! Please, forgive me!”

“Why did you do that?”

“It was… my idea. I thought it would make our spirits lighter. And you were so tempting as a target!”

He was irked by the whole thing, but her tone subsided his temper. He put his hands over Elsa’s and lightly tapped them.

“I’ll forgive you if you pick up the branches and bring them to the bonfire.” He said.

“How many?” Elsa asked, looking at all those scattered branches.

“All of them.” Hans said as he left her embrace, turned his body, blinked at Elsa, and went to the tents.

Sometime later, a fire was raging in the rock pile and the chilly air was dispersed by the warmth. Hans and Kristoff prepared some marshmallows and sausages on skewers, while Anna and Elsa took care of the beverages. They also brought some small folding stools to avoid sitting on the ground. The thermal box served as an improvised table while they ate the foodstuffs on plastic dishes.

“So, guys… it’s Halloween. But we’re not being spooky enough!” Anna exclaimed while devouring an entire sausage.

“She’s right. Do you have any ideas of what to do? My mind is blank.” Kristoff asked.

“Well, what about telling stories? It’s a classic.” Hans gulped some of his beer.

“Uuh… Do we have to? This place already gives me the creeps.” Elsa was looking back and forth, from the forest to the fire. She unconsciously moved her stool closer to the bonfire.

Her comment killed the conversation and they stared at the fire for some minutes. Hans’s face changed, indicating he had a great idea.

He went to Elsa’s tent and brought the plushie snowman with him.

“If you listen to the stories while hugging Oswald here, will it make you more comfortable?”

“Hans, it’s _Olaf_ … and yes.” Elsa reached out and plucked Olaf from his hands. She held it with her left arm while eating and drinking with her right.

“Then it’s settled. Who wants to start?” The ginger man asked the crew. Anna eagerly raised her hand.

“Ooh, me!”

Kristoff opened a beer, Elsa prepared a marshmallow skewer and Hans a sausage skewer; they were all ready for Anna’s story.

_“So, it was a dark and stormy night in Victorian London’s outskirts. There was this woman, Lady Rose…delle, dressed in a green dress and sporting a cute blue umbrella. She was running from a killer! He was Patrick Stuart, known as the Perfidious Pat by the police and media. He had killed sooo many people in the past months and she was about to become his latest victim. He was dressed in reddish clothes._

_But Lady Rosedelle ran as fast as she could. There was no one on the streets and her pleas for help fell on deaf ears and shut windows. She finally found an abandoned house and went in there, trying to shake Perfidious Pat from her trail. Panting, she closed the door behind her. Was it enough?_

_IT WASN’T! Perfidious Pat used his long knife and trespassed the door’s old wood, scaring the hell out of Lady Rosedelle!_

_Being the smart woman she was, she quickly opened the door – disarming the killer – and smashed it on his face! Then, she jumped through a window and ran into a horse grazing nearby. She jumped on it and rode away back to downtown!”_

Anna’s pose was like a superhero from the comics – right hand closed in a fist before her and left hand likewise but behind her - and her face was pure joy. Kristoff was pensive, Elsa perplexed and Hans gave a slow clap.

“Pretty scary story, Anna. Too bad it was only scary in the first part.”

“Shut up, Hans! I want to see you do better!” Anna pouted, gulping an entire marshmallow.

The green-eyed man was about to, but Kristoff spoke.

“Anna, if it was a stormy night, why would a horse keep grazing instead of looking for cover?”

“Kristoff! Don’t decry my story!”

“I’m not, it’s just a weird thing to happen…”

“Well, for me it was scary enough. A killer, pursuing you?!” Elsa asserted, holding Olaf closer to her.

“Hey, Kris, wanna give it a go?” Hans asked at his pal.

“Okay.”

_“It was winter in Norway. A solitary reindeer – let’s call him Sven – was grazing in the snow, looking for food. Suddenly, he heard the foul cry of wolves. He raised his head, looking for the source. In the dark shadows of the forest, he saw some yellow eyes staring at him. His instincts kicked in and he started to run._

_The eyes moved and they were indeed the wolves. A pack of six hungry carnivores! They raced towards the poor reindeer, who tried to outrun them. They ended up leaving the forest and a frozen river was ahead. Sven, filled with fear, didn’t even think twice and crossed it. The wolves followed him, but the ice was too thin and one of them fell under the ice! The pack stopped the pursuit and tried to help their fallen member._

_Sven reached the other side of the river. Lucky him the wolves were distracted with something else because he was tired! Gasping for some air, he watched the pack. Smiling to himself, Sven went into the forest when he noticed the sad whimpers coming from the wolves. Something grew inside the reindeer… It was pitying the very own animals that tried to eat him! He was undecided between going away or helping the poor canines. Finally, his compassion won and he slowly moved towards the pack._

_The wolves noticed his arrival and firstly growled at him, but the reindeer were now unfazed by that. Looking down, he saw the fallen wolf trying to come back to the surface, but it couldn’t fight against the current and reach the original hole. Thinking a bit, Sven moved to a rock in the middle of the river and the path of the current; then, jumped with his front legs to pressure the ice right in the front of the rock. It seemed like long minutes, but the ice finally buckled under the pressure and another hole was created! Sven then asked the wolves to tell their companion to let the current pull him._

_The wolf in the river finally stopped fighting and the current took him straight to the rock – and the new hole. Sven was prepared and grabbed it by the neck with his mouth and then landed the animal on the ice. The other five wolves came running and quickly licked their cold friend to warm it up. The largest of the wolves approached Sven and bowed to him in respect, vowing to never hunt him again. Sven responded in kind and left the place.”_

Kristoff told his story while leaning front, a hand on his leg and the other mimicking the events. Anna was happy, Elsa more relaxed and Hans facepalmed.

“Awww, Kris! I loved it!” Anna said.

“You guys suck at this.” The green-eyed man threw a beer can in the litter sack and grabbed another.

“C’mon, man! I saw something similar in a documentary once.” Kristoff said, disgruntled.

“But it was a sweet story!” Elsa nudged Hans.

“I thought you guys wanted spooky, not sweet.”

“Then show us how _spooky_ you can be, Mr. Westergaard.” Anna had a challenging visage and Hans accepted her dare.

“Very well.” Hans cracked his joints.

_“Once upon a time, a king and a queen were living in a faraway realm. They had a happy marriage, but they didn’t bear any children. Desperate for any sliver of hope, they tried everything… to no avail. There was only one last option: the wicked witch living in the forest. The king sent his best soldiers to invite her to the castle and do something. The witch was promised many riches and decided to come._

_When she entered the throne room, she bowed at the royal couple and said her piece. Both king and queen accepted all her demands and provided everything she needed. The witch had a room for herself and exclusive servants. There, she prepared a potion with many exotic ingredients and gave it to the queen to drink. ‘This will make your body more accepting of bearing a child!’ said the witch. The rulers were grateful, but would only pay the witch if it indeed worked._

_And so, they waited. The queen finally was deemed pregnant by the royal doctor and the entire kingdom was overjoyed! Distant realms sent envoys to congratulate them, vassals offered gifts and festivities happened for an entire week. The witch was paid and she left. The king even decreed that she was not to be bothered by anyone she didn’t invite to her house in the forest._

_After long months, the queen gave birth not only to one but to TWO babies! Two healthy boys. Their parents were thrilled by the revelation. There was a bright future for the royal family.”_

“Hans, can you speed up to the spooky part? This all sounds pretty fairytale-y to me.” Anna was feeling impatient. Elsa and Kristoff, however, were hooked to the story.

“If you don’t interrupt me, perhaps I will…?”

“Ok, ok. Go on.”

_“_ As I was saying… _The two boys grew up together, sharing activities and scholarships. They were inseparable. The once sad palace was now filled with young laughter and mischief. Their tutors were amazed by their smarts and intelligence, while the cooks couldn’t produce food enough for their voracious appetites. They also liked to play with the hunting hounds._

_However, one day one of the hounds showed up with a broken neck. No one knew who or what did that. The royal hunters had no explanation and the kennel had no signals of forced entry. The next week, one of the prized singing birds of the queen was also found dead, neck broken. The royal caretakers, like their hunter counterparts, didn’t have an explanation. The king put his best guards to deal with that and find the culprit. While they investigated, nothing out of the ordinary happened and it was ended._

_As soon as it ended, a resounding gasp revealed another corpse – now, of a young washerwoman. Her neck was broken, but she had no other signs of violence. It seemed she just turned her head in a way it wasn’t possible and dropped dead. The investigation team was called and they enquired everyone in the palace about it. The only ones they didn’t speak with were the princes._

_In the end, no wrongdoer was pointed out. The king, stressed by the situation, almost accused his own guards of doing it – only the reassuring words of the queen calmed him down. While the conversation was going on, a new corpse appeared: it was the royal baker’s. The assassin was climbing up the social ladder and would soon reach the royal family. The king ordered a quarantine on the entire palace; he, the queen, and the two princes were kept in their quarters._

_The lockdown lasted for an entire week. Not a single soul died in the palace during this time. The guards concluded that either the murderer came from outside and was denied entry or they were from inside the palace and couldn’t access their intended target. To test a theory, the investigators suggested raising the quarantine on the two lower levels to see if someone else would die. It was a morally questionable decision, but a sacrifice had to be made for the others to remain alive._

_After another week, the only one to die was the old gardener, long past his prime. He died of natural causes, though. In the palace, the princes started to lose patience and demanded to be set free; the royal couple could barely control them. The investigators then applied the quarantine to the lower level, but raised it to the second lowest and the third lowest (which were the common servants of the palace) and planned to wait for another week._

_However, the royal princes couldn’t bear it anymore and, at one night, escaped their rooms. In the morning, the king ordered a complete sweep to find the little brats… but what they found was the body of a butler. Again, a broken neck. The king was so mad that he ordered his investigation team to find the strangler that same day or the entire squad would meet the gallows. Gulping nervously, they went off to save theirs and others’ lives.”_

“Oh my God, man! This is going forever.”

“Anna! Let him finish.” Elsa scolded her sister. Kristoff just looked at her and shook his head in disappointment. Hans took a long breather and resumed.

_“One of them found a trinket – a memento – not far from the corpse. It was the royal symbol, a golden star. Only the four members of the royal family carried those, or ambassadors in official missions. All of the kingdom’s ambassadors were summoned and their stars were accounted for. The king’s was too, as was the queen’s. A dark thought crossed the minds of the investigators. No, it couldn’t be. Not them…_

_One member of the squad, known for his direct-to-the-point behavior, spoke to the king about his suspicion. The others tried to silence him, but it was too late. The king, in a fit of rage at such suggestion, decapitated the poor man on the spot; the latter’s blood washed over everyone present. The queen started to cry and the others quickly ran away, leaving the royal couple alone. The king, realizing what he had done, dropped his sword and looked at his bloodied hands in horror._

_Childish laughter woke both from their state of mind. On the other side of the room, the princes were smiling and looking at their parents. This time, their visages weren’t innocent and pure – they were vicious and dark, with green light coming from their eyes; They were holding each other’s hands and walked towards the king and queen. The former tried to summon guards, but none came – they were all afraid of the mad king. The queen tried to reason with her little kids, but they didn’t say anything to her; they gazed at her and her neck broke. Her lifeless body fell around them, as her last effort to protect her children._

_The king, with tears in his eyes, grabbed his sword and said how unfortunate fate was to him. All he wanted was a child, a fruit to continue his legacy. Unmoved, the boys looked at him and hissed:_

_‘You shouldn’t have trusted a witch!’”_

The other three folks looked at Hans with wide eyes, not believing in what they’ve just heard. Anna finally relented from her jabbing at the ginger and drank a bit of beer. Kristoff was visually bothered by the story and tried to focus on preparing marshmallows. Elsa stopped eating and drinking altogether, hugging Olaf as hard as she could and closing her eyes.

“It seems my story was spooky enough.” Hans, feeling victorious, stood up and went to the thermal box to grab a beer. When he came back to his place, he stroked Elsa’s hair a bit to comfort her. Anna grabbed Kristoff’s arm and used her body language to tell him she wanted to snuggle – to which he promptly agreed.

“Elsa.” Anna said. “Do you have a spooky story, too?” Her mirth was coming back.

“I… don’t know. Not my type of story.” The older sister ate a sausage to focus on something else. Hans put his stool near hers and embraced the platinum blonde.

“It’s okay, Elsa. They’re just stories. Nothing like them happened or will happen.”

She snuggled with Hans and thought for some seconds, trying to build up something to tell her friends and sister.

“Well, I think I have one. _It happened in Tokyo, when-_ “

Her narrative was cut short when she felt something shivering on her lap. The Olaf plushie turned its head and looked straight at Elsa. It spoke with a nefarious voice.

“I also have a story to tell! _It is about four youngsters around a bonfire. Just like me, they loved warm hugs. And pretty warm they became… INSIDE THE BONFIRE_!”


End file.
